Jeffrey and I got a little bit of a late start Saturday morning. We got to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida near the end of the Marvel panel, which I had originally wanted to attend. According to the MegaCon program, the sceduled panelists were Mike Choi, Sonia Oback, Casey Jones, Mike McKone, Greg Land, Paul Peltier, Nelson DeCastro and Dexter Vines. When we got to the panel, there were only three panelists, one of whom I would later learn was Grag Land, when I walked by his table.
Afterwards, Jeffrey and I went our separate ways in the convention hall. I went searching for a local comic book writer I had friended on facebook, who was in Artist Alley, Wayne Cordova. He is an associate pastor of Crosspoint Church in Spring Hill, Florida. He was at MegaCon to promote two comics, one of which was M.I.M.E.S. (Mobile Initiative for Muting Evil Syndicates). The artist, Harold Jennett, was not there. I bought a copy and Wayne autographed it. We had a nice conversation about comic books, podcasting , school and church. His wife coaches math teachers at a school around Spring Hill, and my wife is a secretary with the Exceptional Student Education department at our local school board. To learn more about M.I.M.E.S. go to http://mimescomic.com/.

Jeffrey and I met for the DC Nation panel, composed of Dan Didio, Jimmy Palmiotti, Ethan Van Sciver and Tony Bedard. As the discussion got started, Dan Didio invited a couple, dressed as Green Lantern and Black Canary, to join them on the panel. After receiving some congratulations from the audience about his promotion to co-publisher, Didio joked, "Everything you like about DC, give the credit to Jim Lee; everything you don't like about DC, I'm responsible." He then mentioned that this was his first DC Nation panel, and first comic book convention, since August of 2009.

Among the topics Didio mentioned was that Superman would be appearing in his regular titles soon. The breakout Batman characters of the past year was Red Robin /Tim Drake and Damian. Grant Morrison would be writing Batman And Robin for the forseeable future. Dan also mentioned that he thought writer James Robinson pulled off a well written story with Justice League: Cry For Justice. Though the ending was shocking, it was not gratuitous, and would lead to some big changes for Green Lantern.Ethan Van Sciver said that the conclusion of Flash: Rebirth would lead into future stories and a broader epic for The Flash.

Tony Bedard, writer of the Great 10, said that he developed the characters so that, after the end of their mini-series, other creators would be able to use them elsewhere in the DC Universe.

Jimmy Palmiotti said that what drew him to Power Girl was her voice and personality. He said that he doesn't find that every character has a distinctive voice, but she did. He also said that comic book fans help determine what makes it, what doesn't, what sells.

Dan Didio commented on the Legion Of Super-Heroes. He said that one of the problems with the Legion was the generational aspect of the DC Universe; it fractures the audience. The favorite era for a comic book reader is usually their first exposure to a comic book title. Dan said that one of the goals of DC is to find one strong interpretation and stick with it, without alienating fans of various eras. He also mentioned other characters. Static, from Milestone Comics, will be a member of Teen Titans, and a Batman Beyond series would be upcoming.

Dan had a few comments about J. Michael Strazinski. He loved JMS on Brave And The Bold. Those were great stories with emotional impact. Superman happens to be JMS's favorite character, and Dan said that he has a perspective on the Man Of Steel that is 180 degrees from where he is now, but is still true to the character.

On Birds Of Prey, Dan said that writer Gail Simone and artist Ed Benes wanted to return to the title, and that is why DC is bringing it back.

Tony Bedard said that in order to get new people coming to comic books, as Geoff Johns said, the goal is to make comics the most popular modern myth. Didio expanded that thought further. He said that it was not just DC's job, but the job of all comic book publishers, to raise the public consciousness of comic books.

Someone in the audience asked a question about new cross-company crossovers, which were popular in the 1970's. Didio said it was possible, but at the moment DC was concentrating on its own characters.

Dan Didio then had a series of announcements about various series. David Finch would draw the cover for Batman #700, and would be the regular cover artist for Action Comics. Action's creative team would be writer Mark Guggenheim and artist Pete Woods. Paul Levitz would take over Adventure Comics and Legion Of Super-Heroes. On a related note Dan asked Legion fans to send postcards to DC's offices if they wanted Legion flight rings with the new upcoming Legion Of Super-Heroes #1. DC's Free Comic Book Day issues for 2010 will be War Of The Supermen #0 and Brightest Day #0. Brightest Day will carry a lower price point. Blackest Night #8 will carry the cover price of $3.99, and have a fold-out cover. A new Who's Who will be published, drawn by core DC artists and freelancers. The next DC animated DVD movie, after Crisis On 2 Earths, will be Under The Hood. After that, there has been nothing definite to announce yet.

Ethan Van Sciver announced that his new project would be a creator owned series published through Wildstorm and written by Gail Simone.

An audience member had a question about how the second features would be collected. Dan Didio said that if it was related to the first feature, they would be created together, but if not, it would be collected in a separate edition.

Another question was about superhero novels. Dan Didio said that those were handled by a separate group in the company and licensed out. He closed the panel by answering a question about Grant Morrison's mulitverse, saying it was moving forward. Several Earth-2 stories are forthcoming. If there were to be any Elsworlds stories, this is how they will be handled.

Next: MegaCon 2010 Day 2: Part II!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Note:While this blog post is the first of three on MegaCon, the podcast episode on MegaCon itself will be a single episode.

I first attended MegaCon in Orlando, Florida in 2005, as one of my son's birthday presents, as both were around the end of February that year. We did it again in 2006, both times only on Satuday, but have not been back since. I had the opportunity to go this year because Jeffrey Taylor O'Brien, of the Superman Homepage website, was going to attend in order to accept an award for the website. We had friended each other on facebook after the podcast he co-hosts with Michael Bailey, From Crisis To Crisis, began. We later began working on a comic book project that I'll be able to discuss at a later date. On Sunday afternoon, March 14, 2010, he accepted the award for the best comic book fan website award from Project Fanboy http://www.projectfanboy.com/. The whole award ceremony can be seen here: http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7698.

My convention experience actually started Thursday night, when my wife Cynthia and I drove to the Orlando Internaional Airport (OIA), to pick Jeffrey up. He stayed at our home that weekend, and it was a pleasure to finally meet him in person, and enjoy his delicious cooking.We went to the orange County Convention Center first thing Friday morining and bought our three-day passes. We avoided the long line inside by going to an outside booth (a tip for those who don't buy their tickets in advance).

When we first entered the hall, the Ghostbusters ambulance sat in front of the hall entrance, followed by the Flintstonemobile and a new stlye VW Beetle stylized as Pokemon. To show my age, the one that grabbed my attention was the Flintstone car.

The first panel we went to was The Power Of Plot, hosted by writers Glenda Finkelstein and Kimberly Raiser, both of whom I was not familiar with. I had forgotten to bring my notepad with me, so I took notes on the back of the convention program. The two panelists had some good pointers that I'll share with anyone interested in writing. The first thing they mentioned was how inportant it was to know the ending of the story before halfway through writing the story, or the ending could fall apart. It's important to know where you're going, but still allow yourself to be surprised. Sometimes the story, or its characters, will lead you down a path you didn't expect and improve the tale. How to begin a story is to draw in the readers. Engage them from the first paragraph. It isn't always necessary to explain a character's background. Use conflict to develop his or her background. Also, don't have too many characters. It will bog down the story. Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Always provide clues in the plot, especially in the mystery genre, that point to the conclusion, even if the readers don't always pick up on them before they get to the end. Always give readers characters to care about. Noone enjoys unsympathetic characters. Conflict in a story is not necessarily good vs. evil, but some disagreement between characters that is resolved by the end. Finally, when writing, write for yourself. If you enjoy what you're writing, then that emotion will flow to your readers, and they will enjoy your stories also.

After that panel Jeffrey and I wandered through the main hall separately. The convention wasn't as heavily attended that day, as it would be on Saturday. My main focus that day was to meet Billy Tucci and buy a copy of the hardcover edition of his book Sgt. Rock: The Lost Batallion for my son. The story placed DC's iconic WWII character and Easy Company in the middle of the historic Lost Batallion battle of that war. I had earlier interviewed Billy back in episode #97: http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/2009/10/Episode_97_An_Interview_With_Billy_Tucci-252208.html. When I introduced myself he got up from his chair and gave me a hug. He gave me a warm welcome and it was the highlight of the convention for me. he autographed not only the copy of the book I purchased, but my copy of Jonah Hex #53, May 2010, which he drew. As he did in all of the copies of his Sgt. Rock book he autographed, he drew a very nice Sgt. Rock sketch, and signed it, "To Will - War Is Hell. Billy Tucci." To look at it. it's hard to believe that it took only a few minutes to draw.

Another artist I wanted to meet was Central Florida artist Derek Fish, who I first met at the 24-Hour Comic Book Day event at Acme Comics back in October of 2009. He was in Artist Alley doing sketches and selling his new comic book The Wellkeeper, issues #0 and #1, on which he served as writer, artist, cover colorist and letterer. Back in October I sat next to him and watched him ink the pages of a future issue. I reviewed his comic book on My Pull List Issue #83 http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/2010/03/issue-83-megacon-2010.html.

I also had a few books signed by Marv Wolfman, Jimmy Palmiotti, Jamal Igle, Darwyn Cookeand Laura Martin.

I asked Marv Wolfman if he worked with Curt Swan, and he said that he did many times. He described Curt as a perfect gentleman. When I asked him if he had a favorite among the many stories he wrote he said that it would be the tribute story to Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in Action Comics. He didn't remember the issue number, and as I wracked my brain tothink if I had read it, he mentioned that it was drawn by the late Gil Kane. That was the clue I needed and I recalled the cover, even though I didn't know the issue number either. (Looking through my collection, it's Action Comics #554.)

As Laura Martin signed my copies of Planetary vol. I and issue #27, I asked her how she came to be the colorist for the Planetary series. She informed me that she had been the colorist for artist John Cassaday on his Image series Desperado, and he like her work and told her that he and writer Warren Ellis were looking for a permanent colorist for Planetary. So she walked right into it. I asked her if she has met Warren Ellis in person, and she said that he has. Laura also said that, while Warren cultivates an internet persona (that I'll describe as a sharp tounged curmudgeon), in person he is a gentleman. But we love you anyway, Mr. Ellis.

As I waited in line for Darwyn Cooke to sign my copies of The New Frontier trade paperbacks and DVD, someone brought him a box of "Handerpants" and said Jimmy Palmiotti told him to bring them to him. Darwyn opened the box and put them on. They were white fingerless gloves that look like whitey tighties for the hands. Jimmy sat at a table on the other end of the section from Darwyn. My friend Marc of Acme Comics later told me that he was at the same bar as Darwyn and Jimmy, and Darwyn talked about how weird, but how comfortable the gloves were on his hands.Jeffrey and I met again to attend the DC Comics panel. On the panel were: Dan Didio, Tony Bedard, Rob Hunter, Mark McKenna, Stephane Roux, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Amanda Conner. Unfortunately, I din't have any room on the program to take any notes, but you can read Jeffrey's fine coverage of that panel at: http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7673. The biggest announcement that I remember from that panel was the now familiar announcement, to Power Girl fans, that Amanda Conner was leaving the book after issue twelve, and co-writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray were leaving with her. The reason she gave was simply exhuastion. She had not had any time off, and ws working extremely long hours to keep the book on schedule. While I don't read Power Girl, only for budgetary reasons, I do enjoy Amanda's art style.

That pretty much summed up the day. We also took pictures of various cosplayers in attendance. there were several Supermen, including a Black Lantern Superman, several Supergirls, at least one Wonder Women, and my favorite, Saturn Girl of the Legion Of Super-Heroes. She was the first Legionairre I can remember seeing in the three years I've been to MegaCon.

On our way home Jeffrey and I stopped at the grocery store to get a few things. He seasoned the salmon my wife had bought, steamed asparagus, boiled potatoes, and made a lemon cream sauce to go with the salmon. It was a delicious dinner, and a hint of what we would enjoy Sunday evening when Jeffrey would cook the entire dinner for us. But that's another post.

It begins with the famous Nietzsche quote, Behold I teach you the superman, and then quotes Superman writer and co-creator Jerry Siegel conceiving a character like Samson, Hercules and every other strong man he'd ever heard of into one man, only more so.

The article then reviews some of the familiar touchstones of Superman's creation: Siegel conceiving of a villainous Superman, reinvented as a hero, collaborating with friend and artist Joe Shuster on a comic strip, the eventual sale to Detective Comics and launch of Action Comics. The article noted that the first issue was worth around $35,000. In recent weeks, here in 2010, a copy sold for over $1,000,000.

In 1988, and still today,Superman is an institution, even if not as many people read his exploits as did in 1988, or before. The article noted that Superman had run continuously in comic books, and 250 newspapers in a comic strip (as Siegel and Shuster first envisioned), a radio show that lasted 13 years, a number of cartoon series (not including Superman: The Animated Series, which would run for three seasons later in the next decade), two 15 chapter movie serials, a TV series of just over 100 episodes, a Broadway musical and five movies. That didn't include decades of merchandising.

David Newman was quoted as saying that Superman was an American myth, as King Arthur was to England. John Byrne, who the article noted was worn in Great Britian, called the Man of Steel the ultimate success story, a foriegner who came to the states and became more successful than he could have been anywhere else. Science fiction writer Harlan Ellson was noted for stating that there are probably only five fictional characters known around the world: Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Mickey Mouse, Robin Hood and Superman.

The article noted that the week the issue of Time appeared on the newsstands was not Superman's 50th birthday. Even though the Man of Steel's birthday is celebrated on Leap Day, February 29th, the month of April 1938 was when Superman was born on the first issue of Action, dated June 1928.

To commemorate Superman's golden birthday, CBS broadcast a Superman special and DC Comics threw a big party. The Smithsonian Institute held a Superman exhibit that would run until June, and Metropolis, Illinois was refurbishing its Superman statue. In Superman's real birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio, a Superman fan club called the Neverending Battle planned its own Superman exhibit and ticker-tape parade. I don't know if they were able to put it together.

The article also mentioned the book Superman At 50: The Persistence Of A Legend, edited by Dennis Dooley and Gary Engle, published by Octavia Press (which was the subject of episode #9 of this podcast). A number of features in the book were mentioned in the article, including the identity of Lois Lane's inspiration, Lois Amster, A Glenville High School classmate of Jerry and Joe's.

Superman's co-creators did not take part in the Superman festivities. Both were 73 in 1988, and lived in retirement near each other. Both had health problems, Joe was legally blind and Jerry suffered heart issues. Superman's creators would both be gone before another decade had passed. Their legal troubles over Superman's copyright was briefly reviewed.

The article noted Superman gave birth to an army of brightly clad imitators. Looking back, it seemed the Drepression strengthened the idea that anyone could make it, noted cartoonist Jules Feiffer. But the article also asked how Superman has lasted beyond the Depression and WWII. Its answers were that Superman was orphaned, like the characters Huck Finn and Little Orphan Annie. He was a foreigner who came to a land built by foreigners. He was one of the good guys, and Superman's violence was never cruel. He used his powers to deflect violence as much as possible.

Also noted were the religious connotations in the Superman story. Catholic priest and novelist Andrew Greeley compared Superman to angels. Others compared his kryptonian name, Kal-El, to the Hebrew syllables meaning "all that God is". Greek and Norse mythology also had stories of gods who dwelled on Earth as men.To me, the closest religious parallel to Superman would be the story of the infant Moses, who was found and raised in the home of Pharoah's daughter.

Christopher Reeve also noted how, on a secular level, Superman was special. He was quoted talking about terminally ill children whose last request was to talk to him, and passed away knowing that someone of Superman's qualities existed. He said that was why he cold never be silly when protraying Superman. He took him seriously, and that is probably why he was the best actor who played the Man of Steel to date.

The Time article noted how Superman has changed and adapted according to the media he appeared in. "Look! Up in the sky!" and kryptonite first appeared on the radio show. The article also mentioned that the Man of Steel evolved as America changed during WWII. Clark took his physical exam for the draft, and was declared 4-F because he accidentally read the eye chart in the next room with his x-ray vision. Superman fought the war on the home front, catching saboteurs. After the war Superman's powers grew as readers seemed to wanted more pizazz.

Superman's history on film was reviewed, from Kirk Alyn's serials, with an animated flying Superman, to George Reeve's flying Superman had better effects, but were not the level of the '70's movies. And, as Alyn noted, his muscles were real under the "S".

The article noted the storm of Dr. Wertham's campaign against comic books. Superman weathered that storm but was more threatened by the changing attitudes of youth during the 1960's, with the Vietnam War and civil rights. Superman began to be seen as out of touch by some. Then the popularity of nostalgia arose, and Superman was revived, most notably, by Superman: The Movie which premiered in 1978.

Lois Lane has transformed over the decades to match the times, the article noted. While she was a pioneering role model, there were real-life female reporters who filled Lois' shoes, Anne O'Hare McCormick, Martha Gelhorn, Dorothy Thomson, Dorothy Kilgallen and others. Lois even broke off romantic notions toward Supeman in the early 1980's.

The article ended with the biggest changes in Superman, helmed by John Byrne. His idea was to bring down Superman's powers so he isn't as omnipotent. At the time the article appeared, Byrne's revamped Superman had doubled sales to over 200,000 copies, a level the best selling comics in 2010 rearely reach. The last sentence hoped Superman would reach 100. In a few years he will reach 75, so it looks like there's a good chance he will. The biggest threat to Superman now doesn't come from kryptonite, but from the neverending legal battle between the heirs of his creator and his publisher. Will the heirs win the fight, but leave the publisher that has provided decades of Superman stories? Or can both sides come to some licensing agreement similar to the ones with the heirs of the creators of Batman and Wonder Woman. The Man of Steel also faces a bigger scientific challenge than Luthor and Brainiac combined, with the rise of digital publishing. Will DC Comics, and the comic book industry in general, learn the lessons of the music industry and find a way to survive and thrive in this digital age? It's a neverending story indeed.

Next week:MegaCon 2010!Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

Monday, March 8, 2010

This episode is almost a week late. I apologize, but I was working on a project and trying to get it done by this past weekend. While I didn't siucceed, I did make progress, and should be able to discuss it in the near future. Meanwhile I want to catch up on the podcast, and this week will be a double feature as a result. Also, this upcoming weekend, March 12 - 14, 2010, will be MegaCon in Orlando, Fl, http://megaconvention.com/, and I will be attending all three days for the first time. I went there in 2005 and 2006, but only on Saturday.

Irwin Donenfeld was born on March 1, 1926, and died on November 29, 2004 (one day after what would have been my mother's 66th birthday). His parents were Harry and Gussie Donenfeld. Harry was one of the founders of DC Comics. Refer back to episodes 94, 95 and 108 about the key founders of DC, and episode 113, which contains a story Irwin told of his son and Curt Swan. A lot of the information about Irwin comes from Gerard Jones' book Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters And The Birth Of The Comic Book, with some other info from Mark Evanier's website about Irwin's passing, http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2004_12_01.html.

He had one sibling, his sister Sonia, born in 1928 and known as Peachy. His godfather came from his father's mob ties in Prohibition, being none other than mob boss Frank Costello himself. Irwin had a sad childhood in some respects because he did not have a close relationship with his dad. Harry spent most of his time, apart from business, with his mistress Sunny Palin. Irwin once remarked that his father had a wife and mistress, and cheated on both. He also remembered his parents arguing over Harry's philanderings.

As a boy Irwin had a closer relationship with his father's chauffeur, Frank Moschello. Frank had been a street kid and booze-runner, and had taken the fall for one of Harry's rackets, and was given a job for life as a reward. While his father would leave after a couple of innings, Frank would stay and watch all of Irwin's Little League games, and talk baseball with him on the drive home. At night, Frank would drive Harry to all of the night clubs. Irwin described Frank as more of a father than Harry was. But, like any son, Irwin still had an admiration for his biological father, desribing him as a real dynamo. Other than baseball, Irwin's other interest was in boxing.

As a teen, Irwin got an after-school job at Independent News, which was owned by his father and Jack Liebowitz, who mentored Irwin in his usual gruff manner. Irwin would even see his father's mistress at the after-hours gin rummy games Harry and Jack would have with Independent News' other executive Paul Sampliner. Sunny would be a part of the card games as well. Irwin described her as slightly overdressed, and a little taller than his father. He knew that she was more a part of his father's life than he was.

At the age of 18, Irwin joined the Army and entered pilot training, but never faced combat. He remained at Keesler Army Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for the duration of his enlistment. Harry visited his son once when Irwin was about to fight for the base championship. Irwin told his father he couldn't arrange a dinner with the base officers when Harry asked. A few days later Irwin was ordered to report to the Colnel's office. While he wondered what he had done wrong, his father appeared, having somehow arranged an Army limo from the train station, and dinner with the officers. Decades later, Irwin marveled at how his father could make everyone like him.

After his Army service, Irwin graduated from Bates College in 1948, and began working at DC Comics. He would work his way through the company. Irwin would work in the production department, readying the pages for printing. Jack Liebowitz would also assign Irwin to take over his father's duties in distribution. As Irwin became an adult himself, and entered his father's world, Harry Donenfeld was retreating. The years of hard living, and the pressures of a wife and mistress, were beginning to take its toll. Plus, Jack Liebowitz may have wanted Harry to fade into the background, and take his old mob history with him.

Irwin would eventually become head of the editorial department. He would leave the daily realationships with writers and artists to the individual editors. His concentration was gathering sales information from Accounting, studying trends, and deciding what boosted sales. Irwin's concentration was on the covers. He left the editors to worry about the content, and tried to figure out what on the covers would hook readers, from colors to dinosaurs or apes. Eventually, he put a limit on how many times apes could appear on the cover. One of his more infamous ideas was the checkerboard that appeared on DC titles in the mid-1960's (I remember them from my own childhood).

Irwin was involved in the development of the DC title Showcase, during a time when the comic book publisher struggled to stay in business. The title would play a key role in the birth of the silver age of comic books, giving birth to, among others, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Lois Lane's own title. Around 1964, Irwin signed a distribution deal with a small publisher who had gotten the rights to publish a fan magazine about a British music group. It was published soon after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the group's name was, of course, The Beatles. As part of management, Irwin held the company view of the ongoing legal battle with Jerry Siegel over the rights to Superman.

In 1967, DC Comics was bought by Steve Ross, who owned Kinney Services. Irwin left the company in 1968. He felt promises were made to him that were not kept. He left the comic book industry entirely, bought a marina in Westport, Connecticut, and published a boating magazine. Irwin and his wife, who I could find no information on, had six children, Rita Lynn (a real estate agent who died on November 24, 1990 in Kissimmee, Florida), Amy, Mimi, Ben, Harry and Luke. Luke was the son I mentioned in episode #113, the Curt SwanToast, about the sketch he received from the Superman artist.

Next episode Superman On The Cover Of Time Magazine!Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.